Yellowstone, Day 1: The Day of Travel

Day 1 The Day of Travel

People say that it is not the path you take but the final destination that matters; however, getting to Jackson Hole was a path that was neither planned nor enjoyed. Planes are a pain. What else needs to be said. The first bump in the road occurred about five minutes after arriving at the airport when we found our plane was delayed, causing a conundrum of problems. Our options were to take an illogical flight path with three connections or wait till the following day.      

After 40 minutes of inaction we made the only choice really open to us, and the journey began. Bear with me. I am a control freak, do not take well to unexpected changes, and being around a mass of people puts me on edge, so at the risk of sounding like a spoiled brat I will share my story of my worst travel fears all wrapped into one day. I realize that I got to go on a trip of a lifetime. Believe me, that was the only thing that got me through that day. We got through security with only a minor hitch; my mom had to get her legs patted down. After scrounging for some lunch, we inhaled some pizza and veggies before the boarding process began. On top of all that happened already, some security guy decided to search my backpack that he couldn't figure out how to unzip. Now that inspired some confidence there. So after that pointless hassle we boarded and headed for Detroit. The one perk that we got for the inconvenience was first class seats on the first plane. I was underwhelmed. It was more like "first glass" as we coined it. The service was great and we did get our drink served in real glass cups, but everything else, well you get the idea. When we landed we had all of 15 minutes to get our  next seats and board. We went from first class to last ass on the plane for a 3 hour and 40 minute ride, sitting in the last seats on the back of the plane. We were actually on that plane for 4 hours and 19 minutes. The in flight movie was "Water for Elephants" which we all enjoyed and it did make the trip go faster. The tv monitors were dirty and most were discolored and my seat belt was actually broken and came completely out of the seat. Then there was a very vocal kid who screamed and cried for 3 hours and 20 minutes of the flight. After the Detroit to Salt Lake City flight, only one leg of the trip was left. From Salt Lake City to Jackson Hole, it was about 10:00 pm our time. Other than being on a small plane and having to check our roll ons, the last leg of the journey was uneventful and we landed at about 11:00 pm something our time. The luggage came through fine and we went to pick up our rental car. After running around getting some last minute essentials we arrived at our hotel and finally the day of travel was ended. I promise this is the only day I complain this much. The other posts have many more photos, less words, and much more pleasantness, but this plane trip just really got under my skin. Stay with me. Thanks for reading.